I can't help but find it baffling that one of our oldest and well-known Gaia NPC's is basically a complete mystery to us. We've been given a long and detailed look into Damian Von Helson's past; we know of his origins, his bloodline, his battle over ownership of the shop his family entrusted to him; but what do we know of his partner; his best friend, Rufus the Cat? How strange it is that we know so little on him, when Gaia is so cat-obsessed....

What we do know is that he helps run Barton Boutique with his owner, Ian. We know that he's able to speak the (human) English language, fluently. When he was called to the stand, during Ian's Trial, Rufus claimed to have come from a long line of talking cats, and that he was the last of his kind.

However, in spite of that, I can't help but notice that he's never expressed a desire to carry on the bloodline to pass on his 'unique traits' to his kittens. (If the ability to speak human language is embedded in their genetics, that is) Nor has he ever actually come into contact with a cat of the opposite sex. We don't even know if Ian had him neutered, thus effectively preventing any more talking cats, like Rufus, from being bred.

We also know that Rufus makes claims to have grown up with Ian, and that he knows him better than his own mother knows him. And that, for some unexplainable reason, that Rufus has a tendency to- at times- bark like a dog (which he's claimed he's been doing since he was little).

What I'm personally, most interested in resolving is the claims by Rufus being the last of his kind of talking cats. I'm curious if there might've been some kind of event in the past that Rufus witnessed, first-hand, like the extermination of his kind, by something, or someone, and he was the only one who made it out, alive, which would allow him to make those claims with absolute certainty. Or if he was somehow separated at birth from his mother and siblings, and simply told that he was the last of his kind by Ian's family.

And although it's debatable as canon, we've seen another talking cat, introduced as Bob, in the 2011 Gaia Online Newbie Register Tutorial Video Intro; and has an official NPC account; along with the talking cats from the Sky Shop in Gaia's own Gama, Monster Galaxy; Mewli, Boof, Toby, along with another unnamed kitten

And with Gaia's latest game, Rumble Kitten, featuring yet even more talking cats, I can't help but wonder if Rufus and his family might've originated from the town of Fursbury, as strays, fought in the Rumble Ring, eventually earning high status, which enabled them to move elsewhere, find Ian's family and settle down with them in another city, as pets/ business partners.

I think it could be an interesting development for Rufus to come into contact with these other talking cats and see that he's not alone, being the only one left of his kind.

And I doubt Rumble Kitten is supposed to actually be set in the Gaia universe.

Whaaaat? I thought Bob was adorable. And he has a slightly similar coat color/ pattern/ build like Rufus. I think that because it's Gaia-made, regardless, the intro can be interpreted as canon, whether it ties in to the pain plot or not. Not to mention Bob is an official NPC, with an avatar and everything, so it's not exactly as if you can simply write him off, like you can with say- RIG NPC's, most of which don't have an avatar, or send PM's to users.

I'm also not going to so readily deny that Rumble Kitten isn't set in the Gaia world. We've only seen 4 , maybe 5 towns, if you include Dref Dur, and that doesn't even begin to make up the Gaia world. Waffles the cat also exists in RK, as well as here, soooooo....

auugh, I forgot about Jet. Thanks for the reminder!
That would be an interesting theory, but why would a demigod/god posess a cat's body and hang with Ian for so long; being all buddybuddy, helping to manage the shop, what have you? And Rufus's family, apparently, were talking cats, too, which were with Ian's ancestors. So did the Demigod that you suspect to be in Rufus posses Rufus' parents and so on? Or were there other demigods of the same nature? occupation? clan? that were possessing the cat family, and talking through them, and staying with Ian's family, for whatever reason?
And what of the other talking cats? (Bob, Boof, Mewli, Jet, RK kittens?) Have demigods also possessed them, and are talking through them? Why posses cats, if that's true? The 'last of his kind' part especially doesn't make sense to me, if there are gods and demi's for just about everything, as it was shown in the manga.

I would actually like that kind of event where we get to learn more about some of the other NCPs. It would be a lot of fun. Especially because Rufus has stated that he was the last of his kind. It makes for a good event. Gaia can play around with that idea. But honestly, I would have rather seen this thread in Site Feedback than here. That's where I tend to see these kinds of threads.

Perhaps he meant to say he is the last of his breed. He's like a Russian Blue mixed with a Tabby or something, definitely not an everyday cat though. Hopefully his family lineage consists of a large gene pool, since if he is any kind of cat breed, there is some degree of inbreeding... Maybe the last of his kind is the last of the talking White Tabbied Russian Blues, who may have been bred by Ian's family. His fur pattern doesn't exist in real life unfortunately...

You forgot to mention the cats that could talk in the Cats Vs Dogs event thing... ...

auugh, I forgot about Jet. Thanks for the reminder!
That would be an interesting theory, but why would a demigod/god posess a cat's body and hang with Ian for so long; being all buddybuddy, helping to manage the shop, what have you? And Rufus's family, apparently, were talking cats, too, which were with Ian's ancestors. So did the Demigod that you suspect to be in Rufus posses Rufus' parents and so on? Or were there other demigods of the same nature? occupation? clan? that were possessing the cat family, and talking through them, and staying with Ian's family, for whatever reason?
And what of the other talking cats? (Bob, Boof, Mewli, Jet, RK kittens?) Have demigods also possessed them, and are talking through them? Why posses cats, if that's true? The 'last of his kind' part especially doesn't make sense to me, if there are gods and demi's for just about everything, as it was shown in the manga.

Perhaps they do not inhabit cats, but can turn into a cat or cursed to live as a cat.

They could just be cats with a great deal of magic or brains, or Rufus might not even be a cat at all, just someone in the form of a cat. Why pick Ian and his family as pals? The same reason any cat picks a random owner, they fed them... that's how I became the owner of some of mine, just feeding a stray...

Whatever the case, there are two kinds of cats on Gaia, talking cats, and non talking cats, like Bibbles, Cookie Boots, or any of the gift box cats too. There are more but you get it. Whatever makes Jet a talking cat may be what makes Rufus a talking cat too or not.

I'd imagine Rufus has as much interest in non talking cats as we do in people that can not speak our language. Although from one mini comic, he reverts to cat speak, which means at some point, that was his native and original language.

Considering where his mother is right now... emotion_sweatdropWow that is a really awkward thing to read with all this context now.

It might just be that Rufus, as far as he's concerned when he was born, is the last of his kind because he was the first of his kind. I mean, outside of Rumble Kitten which has zero context within and without Gaia, there's no way to determine what Rufus' backstory really is. My bet's on him simply being like Team Rocket's Meowth: was a normal, everyday cat and just learned to talk through sheer effort and willpower.

What makes him special, then, is his astounding intelligence and learning capabilities.